Kicking tires of Nebraska's budget

LINCOLN — With money so tight, state government ought to consider unloading some of its vehicles.

That was one conclusion of a review released Monday by State Auditor Mike Foley.

The audit says that of the 8,207 vehicles owned by state agencies, 951 of them were driven less than 6,000 miles a year. Of 40 low-use vehicles checked in detail, at least 16 averaged fewer than 100 miles of use a month.

Foley said that raises the question of whether the state needs those cars and trucks.

“If you and I had a car that sat out there 27 out of 30 days gathering dust, you've got to question do you really want to pay the insurance, maintenance and licensing on a vehicle you may not really need,” he said.

But an official with the University of Nebraska questioned the timing of the review of little-used vehicles. The review was done during summer months — July 2007 and June 2008 — a slow time for the university.

That should be considered, said David Lechner, vice president for business and finance, as well as the specialized uses for the university vehicles. Lechner said several of the vehicles were pickups on the two Lincoln campuses that hauled maintenance equipment or hazardous waste and so naturally would travel few miles.

“We very carefully justify the need to purchase any vehicle,” he said.

Carlos Castillo, director of the Department of Administrative Services, which manages about 14 percent of all state cars, said he has tried to reduce his fleet by about 1 percent a year. Any state vehicle that is used less than 1,000 miles a month, Castillo said, is reviewed to determine whether it could be better used or eventually sold.

Castillo said he agreed with Foley that state statutes need to be clarified so state agencies have proper authority to own and title vehicles.

The Nebraska Legislature's Performance Audit Committee has agreed to follow up on the auditor's report, Foley said.

Overall, the audit said the state had spent $219 million to purchase the 8,207 vehicles. The Nebraska Roads Department has more than one-third of all state vehicles, or 2,992 trucks and cars.

Another criticism in the audit was that vehicle usage reports were not always maintained by all state agencies, particularly the University of Nebraska Medical Center, the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the University of Nebraska at Kearney, as well as Wayne State College and Chadron State College.

Lechner, the NU official, said such logs are not required for specialized, limited-use vehicles, and he questioned whether the time spent on paperwork would be justified.

He did say NU would tighten up its procedures concerning usage reports on passenger vehicles.

Other findings of the audit:

• The state, unlike 41 other states, does not have a formal contract to buy tires. Also, an analysis of tire purchases indicated that agencies weren't getting the discounted prices negotiated by the federal General Services Administration and weren't using the contracted prices obtained by a state procurement officials association, of which Nebraska is a member. A computerized system should be established to track the expenses on state vehicles.

• The University of Nebraska's accounting system did not list 45 vehicles that it owns and included 11 vehicles that it had sold.

• No “unusual or luxury” vehicles were purchased by the state.

Foley said he undertook an audit of state vehicles because of the large number of calls he gets from the public, who report seeing state vehicles at shopping centers or children's ballgames. The auditor said he will forward such complaints to an agency if a license number is included.

Contact the writer:

402-473-9584, paul.hammel@owh.com

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